Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences : Three Poverty Warriors Emerge Winners

Atrio of economists have won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economic “for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty,” the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences which awards the prize announced Monday. Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo (married couple) of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Michael Kremer of Harvard jointly won the 51st Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.

The Nobel committee said the trio emerged winners specifically for addressing “smaller, more manageable questions” - such as how to improve educational outcomes and child health in poor countries - rather than for big ideas. As a direct result of their research, more than five million Indian children had benefited from remedial tutoring in schools, while many countries had introduced heavy subsidies for preventive health care, according to a statement from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

The laureates will on December 10, 2019, in Stockholm, Sweden, receive the award which comes with nine million Swedish crowns (circa FCFA 545 million) prize money, a diploma and a gold medal. The three American scientists are taking over from last year’s laureates, William D. Nordhaus and Paul M. Romer, who were distinguished for their work on integrating climate change and technological innovation into long-term economic theory. Since its incept...